Book I--A Goddess Intervenes
|Summary|Characters & Their Lessons|Literary Devices|Symbolism and Connections|Links, References, and Hints|
Summary
The epic poem
The Odyssey starts with what is called invoking a muse. During the invocation, there is an overview of what
Odysseus does on his travels home from the Trojan War. Zeus begins by wondering aloud about Aighisthos and his whereabouts. The “grey eyed goddess”
Athena begging with her father Zeus to let the king of Ithaka,
Odysseus, go home. For the pasts ten years Odysseus and his men have been trying to get home. The problem all started when to escape from the Kyklops, Odysseus and his men had to stab its one eye out. When he was a safe distance away Odysseus told the one eye his real name. This would not normally be a problem but the one eye’s name was
Polyphemos and he was the son of the god of the sea,
Poseidon. Now, Poseidon has been going after Odysseus at every chance he has. She also tells of how all his men were killed for eating the cows of the son gods. Now the king has been stuck with the goddess Kalypso and can’t leave. She end off her speech by saying now the young suitors of Ithaka want the kingdom and are trying to marry his wife
Penelope, and how in the process they are destroying his home. Zeus remembers Odysseus and Athena, after describing his journey, asks whether or not she can help him return home and tells what she will do with
Telemachus. Zeus at the moment wants to stay neutral and says “as long as Odysseus is on land you can help him but while on the water Poseidon may do what he wishes." Athena decides to take matters into her own hands, and she visits Ithaka to advise Telemakhos to go out in search of news of his father. Telemachus notices the old man and welcomes him to the feast asking who he is and why he is there. Athena replies that she is an old friend of the family and knew both Laertes (father of Odysseus) and Odysseus and that the latter will be home soon. After Telemachus describes the suitors, Athena tells Telemachus to visit Nestor at Pylos and Menelaos at Sparta for news of Odysseus. He must also hold an assembly to tell the suitors to leave the palace. Soon after, Penelope tells the minstrel Phemios to stop playing, however Telemachus says to basically not shoot the messenger, it isn’t his fault Odysseus is not home. Next, he tells the
suitors of the planned assembly and their requested exit but they soon question him as to his guest. He replies that Mentor is an old friend, though he suspects that Mentor was really an immortal. While he debates with the suitors, Telemachus keeps a clear head and does not act as if he has the upper hand on them just because he is royalty. His lack of self-importance shows that Telemachus does not have the same flaw as his father, which is
hubris.
Characters & Their Lessons
Character: Athena/
Pallas Athena
Description: She is the goddess of wisdom and takes a liking to Telemachus and Odysseus. She helps them throughout their lives. She is called Pallas Athena when she takes the forms of mortals like Mentor and intervenes with normal life.
Lesson: She goes from not doing anything for ten years to putting her self out there to help Odysseus. The reason why this is important is because it marks the start of her journey to help bring Odysseus home.
Character: Telemachus
Description: He is the son of Odysseus who will journey out for news of father. the main character in the Telemachy. Telemakhos is visited by Athena, who is disguised as Mentes, in Book One. He believes that he was, in fact, visited by a god, and this not only makes him realize that the gods are now supporting him, but also that it is Athena’s will that Odysseus and his son will one day be reunited. Telemachus differs from his father in that he does not posses the hubris Odysseus does, which foreshadows that he may be even more favored by the gods than his father. Telemachus is also able to control his emotions, unlike Odysseus, which keeps him out of trouble with the suitors for the most part.
Lesson: He learns that is time to step up, become a prince, and make a name for himself, mature.
Character: Penelope
Description:She is wife of Odysseus who has been lonely for 20 years, constantly weeps for Odysseus’ return. She is very faithful to Odysseus throughout the whole epic poem, and she is constantly grieving for him. Her complaints in Book One about anything relating to the Trojan War foreshadow that throughout the whole poem she is very touchy about anything related to Odysseus.
Character: Zeus
Description: The ultimate god, who rules everything and resides on Mt. Olympus, must run things by him to intervene with the lives of mortals.
Character:Phemios
Description: The family minstrel who distresses Penelope with a song about the Trojan War. Telemachus disagrees with Penelope's distress and backs him up.
Character: Antinoos
Description: This man is self-centered and arrogant, yet very powerful among all of Penelope’s suitors. He displays characteristics of a leader. Throughout Book One, he develops his position as the lead suitor in Odysseus’ household.
Character:Eurycleia
Description: The old, trusted maid who raised Odysseus and who Telemachus confides in. She is a grandmother figure to Telemachus.
Character:Poseidon
Description: He is god of the sea who dislikes Odysseus, mostly for his hubris qualities.
Character: Lord Helios
Description: The sun god.
Character: Hermes
Description: The messenger of the gods.
Character:Eurymachus
Description: He is another head suitor. He is constantly backing up Antinoos.
Literary Devices
Foreshadowing
The support Athena puts forth in Book One foreshadows her aid of Telemakhos and Odysseus throughout the whole story.
Motif
Disguises. Athena disguises herself as Mentor, a well-respected friend of Odysseus, to convince Telemachus to leave for Pylos and Sparta. This comes up later and is important because it helps teach Telemachus to be a man, to grow up. She also describes herself as Mentor in order to get inside the house and be a respected guest and most importantly get them to believe her about Odysseus.
Motif
Hospitality. Whenever a stranger enters a house, before being questioned they are given food and comfort. This happens to Athena by Telemakhos on Line 154.
Symbolism and Connections
Food and the Act of Eating
The suitors are always described as eating the estate’s livestock and them constantly being slaughtered. This constant eating by un-welcomed people represents this lack of order and/or restraint. Often Telemachus and Penelope wish for them to eat their own food and basically stop freeloading off Odysseus’ wealth. This comes up often throughout
The Odyssey, the negative connection with food, especially when talking of the suitors and their naughty actions.
Athena’s Spear
When Athena visits Telemakhos she carries a spear, which symbolizes war and violence, and she is the god of war. The fact that this stranger to Telemakhos is carrying such a spear gives him an insight that this person is truly a god.
Disguise
What this means is that when Athena comes down and takes on the appearance of Mentor most people would not look as this as something of importance but you can. Athena said “I am Mentor your fathers old friend,” the reason why this is important is what happens next when Athena starts to tell Telemakhos what to do and what to expect he trust mentor even though he has never known this person or in this case a god. What this translates into is that if this is a friend of someone you know and trust like if this is a friend of your parents that would make you more likely to trust them. Your trust or Telemakhos’ trust for his father transferred into trusting Mentor because he knew my father and they were friend they must have trusted one another why shouldn’t I trust him. This symbol of trust to an unknown friend can still be seen today.
War
When Phemios sings of then men coming home from the Trojan War, Penelope asks him not to. Then, Telemakhos scolds her for being so self centered. He reminds her that there were many men, other than Odysseus, who never were able to come home. The United States is currently in a war, and all of the time
hard-working soldiers are being killed in Iraq and the Middle East. It must be difficult for the families of fallen soldiers not to be resentful towards the war, but as Telemakhos said, they must realize that they are not the only ones that have lost loved ones.
A Journey
We learn of Odysseus’ long, painful journey through the Mediterranean Sea. How he longs for home and how he journeyed for Troy and the war. Also we see how Athena tells Telemachus to go on his own journey for news of his father. To become a man and mature on his journey is what Athena is trying to accomplish. It is also a common myth in that there is an ultimate, divine body (Zeus) and that there is a character depicting the sun and there are gods and goddesses (Helios, Athena, Hermes). Now, a current event/television show that is airing right now is
The Amazing Race. The main idea of the show is the journey and overcoming challenges along the way. We see both of those things in Book 1, the idea of a journey above and the challenges of a journey. The constant problems one will have to fight through.
Gods
Back in the Greek times some people believed in divine intervention from the gods. These people thought that if they prayed that the gods would be on their side and help them through many challenges. This is the same today, because people in the religion of Christianity pray to god to help them through tough times and to help them do things, this is the same is the Muslim Religion, as well as in the Jewish religion. Gods are always prevalent in mythologies, and although different cultures may have different names for the gods, many of them have the same roles. Celtic and Roman cultures also study polytheism, the belief in more than one god. A council of the gods, as happened in Book One, can be found in many mythologies. The Odyssey also has a man vs. god conflict, which is a theme for many myths.
Links, References, and Hints
Book I written in paragraph form
Study guide for Book I
Helpful Hints--1) Divide the chapters into sections. This will allow you to comprehend the book better and make sense of things right away. That would be rather than waiting till the end of the chapter.
2) Put your notes into your writing and how you make sense of the content, don’t just look for answers. You will have to understand the book to succeed with whatever your teacher has in store for you.
3) Enjoy the book. If you just read because someone tells you to, will you really enjoy it? Have fun with it and realize that it is a really good book, at least in my and many other peoples’ opinions.
This Section By:
Leigh K., Alex B., and Stephen P.
